Abstract: A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converter includes a spectrally-selective metamaterial emitter and an associated “matched” photovoltaic (PV) cell. The PV cell has an optimal conversion spectrum (i.e., the wavelength range of in-band photons efficiently converted into electricity). The metamaterial emitter is fabricated with bull's eye (circular target-shaped) structures made up of concentric circular ridges that are set at a fixed grating period roughly equal to the associated optimal conversion spectrum. When the emitter is heated to a high temperature (i.e., above 1000° K), thermally excited surface plasmons generated on the concentric circular ridges produce a highly-directional radiant energy beam having a peak emission wavelength that is roughly equal to the fixed grating period and is directed onto the PV cell.

Abstract: A spectrally-selective metamaterial emitter includes bull's eye (circular target-shaped) structures disposed on a base substrate and including concentric circular ridges separated by circular grooves and set at a fixed grating period (e.g., in the range of 10 nanometers to 5 microns). When the base substrate is heated to a high temperature (i.e., above 1000° K), thermally excited surface plasmons generated on the concentric circular ridges produce a highly directional, narrow band energy beam having a peak emission wavelength that is roughly equal to the fixed grating period. The metamaterial emitter is fabricated using known photolithographic (e.g., combination of primary pattern generation and sputtering or dry etching) fabrication techniques, and utilizes an all-metal structure (preferably refractory metal) to withstand optimal operating temperatures (i.e., approaching 1500° K).

Abstract: An IC assembly includes multiple microelectronic dies embedded in a substrate material using capillary forces such that the contact surface of each microelectronic die is coplanar with a planar upper surface of the substrate material. The substrate material is deposited as a layer of uncured polymer in a paste (or other solid form) on a base chip, and then the microelectronic dies are mounted on the layer surface in a predefined pattern. The uncured polymer is then heated until becomes a flowable liquid, causing the microelectronic dies to be pulled into the liquid polymer by capillary forces until the contact surface of each microelectronic die is coplanar with the upper liquid polymer surface. The liquid polymer is then cured to form the substrate material as a cross-linked robust solid film that fixedly secures the microelectronic dies in the predefined pattern. The microelectronic dies are then interconnected using standard metallization techniques.

Abstract: A solar power system includes a sunlight concentrating system (e.g., a heliostat), a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converter and a thermal power system. The TPV converter includes a metamaterial emitter formed on a box-like enclosure, and an associated photovoltaic (PV) cell. The sunlight concentrating system directs the concentrated sunlight through an inlet opening of the box-like enclosure to heat the metamaterial emitter above 1000° K. Bull's eye structures formed on outward-facing surfaces of the box-like enclosure utilize concentric circular ridges spaced at a fixed grating period that, when heated, generate a radiant energy beam having a peak emission wavelength roughly equal to the grating period. The PV cell converts the radiant energy to produce primary electrical energy. Unconverted solar “waste” heat energy exits the box-like enclosure and is converted by the thermal power system (e.g., using a steam generator) to produce secondary electrical energy.

Abstract: A semiconductor surface emitting laser (SEL) includes an active zone comprising quantum well structures separated by spacer layers. The quantum well structures are configured to provide optical gain for the SEL at a lasing wavelength, ?lase. Each quantum well structure and an adjacent spacer layer are configured to form an optical pair of a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). The active zone including a plurality of the DBR optical pairs is configured to provide optical feedback for the SEL at ?lase.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a method and apparatus for enabling extensibility in sensing systems. The distributed sensing system comprises a number of sensor nodes, a device database, a sensing module registry, a sensing needs monitor, and an automatic composer. The device database is in communication with at least one sensor node and configured to maintain physical information on at least one sensor node. The sensing module registry is configured to maintain a registry of a number of software modules that are available for extracting information from sensor data. The sensing needs monitor is configured to maintain a list of context pairs that represent a number of sensing needs of a sensing application. The automatic composer is configured to generate a composition of software modules, at runtime, to realize the sensing needs of users and applications.

Abstract: A computer system can send a secure request over a named-data network to a remote device by generating an Interest with encrypted name components. During operation, the computer system can receive or obtain a request for data, such as from a local user or from a local application. If the system cannot satisfy the request locally, the system can determine at least a routable prefix and a name suffix associated with the request. The system can generate the secure Interest for the request by determining an encryption key that corresponds to a session with the remote computer system, and encrypts the name suffix using the session encryption key. The system then generates an Interest whose name includes the routable prefix and the encrypted name suffix, and disseminates the Interest over a named-data network to send the request to the remote computer system.

Abstract: A content-producing computer system can use a locally generated key or a client-generated key to communicate with a client device during a session over a named-data network. During operation, the computer system can receive an Interest packet that includes a name for a piece of data or a service. The Interest's name can include a routable prefix, a session identifier, and an encrypted suffix. In some embodiments, the system can generating a session key based on the session identifier and a secret value, and decrypts the encrypted suffix using the session key to obtain a plaintext suffix. The system processes the plaintext suffix to obtain data requested by the Interest, and encrypts the data using the session key. In some other embodiments, the system can use a local private key to decrypt the encrypted suffix, and uses an encryption key obtained from the Interest to encrypt the Content Object.

Abstract: A technique for parallelizing model checking using breadth-first search in order to detect deadlocks and safety property violations is disclosed. The technique is based on Parallel Structured Duplicate Detection (PSDD) and preserves a model checker's ability to perform partial order reduction with parallel breadth-first search. PSDD also uses much less memory and is able to achieve better parallel speedup and verify models more quickly. Also, PSDD used herein is able to make use of external memory, such as hard disks, to reduce the memory requirements of verification.

Abstract: A method and system for enabling an image production device to generate differential gloss for a print includes exposing a toner image of a material to laser to cause one or more portions of the toner image to melt. The material includes the toner image and a substrate. The substrate is to remain substantially unaffected by the laser.

Abstract: A method of electroplating includes forming a seed region to be electroplated on a first portion of a substrate, forming a ground plane on a second portion of a substrate, electrically isolating the ground plane from the seed region, electroplating the region, wherein electroplating includes causing the ground plane and the region to make electrical connection, and then removing the ground plane region on the second portion of the substrate, but not removing the electrical isolation. This creates a structure having a substrate, a passivation layer on the substrate, and at least one electroplated, metal region on the substrate such that there is contiguous contact between the metal region and the passivation layer. And, after an additional flip-chip assembly to a bond pad/heat sinking chip, results in a device having a bond pad chip having bond pads, solder beads formed on the bond pads, and a component connected to the bond pads by the solder beads.

Abstract: Polymer spray deposition systems and methods are disclosed that can be used with a wide range of thermoplastic materials to produce high resolution objects having the complexity and structural integrity typically only achieved using more traditional manufacturing techniques, like injection molding processes. The polymeric spray deposition systems and methods use a spray generator that stretches the fluid between two diverging surfaces, such as two rollers or between two pistons. The stretched fluid breaks apart into a plurality of droplets and is guided through a delivery system, that can include an optional droplet size selector, and into a multi-nozzle array. The multi-nozzle array is controlled and directs the spray onto a target surface, thereby creating a three-dimensional object. The disclosed polymer spray deposition systems and methods can be used in three-dimensional print heads and printing techniques.

Abstract: A route-tracing application can measure the performance of a path in a named-data network using trace agents deployed across various network nodes. During operation, a network node can process a route-tracing Interest by performing a lookup operation in a forwarding information base (FIB) using the Interest's name, in which a respective FIB entry may map the name to a forwarding rule. If the FIB does not include an entry for the Interest's route-tracing name, a trace agent at the network node determines one or more outbound interfaces for the route-tracing operation based on the Interest's name, and creates new route-tracing FIB entries that each maps the Interest's name to a forwarding rule for the determined interfaces. The network node returns a Content Object that satisfies the Interest, in which the Content Object includes the names of the new FIB entries, as well as performance information for the path.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for provisioning physical resources shared by a plurality of jobs. During operation, the system establishes resource-usage models for the jobs, ranks the jobs based on quality of service (QoS) requirements associated with the jobs, and provisions the jobs for a predetermined time interval in such a way that any unused reservations associated with a first subset of jobs having higher QoS rankings are distributed to other remaining jobs with preference given to a second subset of jobs having a highest QoS ranking among the other remaining jobs. Provisioning the jobs involves making reservations for the jobs based on the resource-usage model and corresponding QoS requirements associated with the jobs.

Abstract: One embodiment provides a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET). The MANET includes a plurality of mobile nodes and a centralized controller node. The controller node includes a receiving mechanism configured to receive, from a source mobile node, a request for a service, with the request including an identifier associated with the requested service; an identification mechanism configured to identify a destination mobile node that provides the service associated with the identifier; a path-computation mechanism configured to compute a path between the source mobile node and the destination mobile node using a network graph for the mobile nodes; and a path-sending mechanism configured to send the computed path to at least the destination mobile node, which facilitates establishing a route between the source mobile node and the destination mobile node.

Abstract: One embodiment provides a mobile wireless network that includes a plurality of wireless nodes and a controller node which manages a weighted network graph for the plurality of wireless nodes. A local wireless node sends a route-request message associated with at least one destination node to the controller node, receives a path to the destination node, and routes a packet to the destination node based on the received path. The path is computed based on the weighted network graph. One embodiment provides a system for routing in a mobile wireless network that comprises a plurality of wireless nodes. The system receives a route-request message associated with at least one destination node from a source node, computes a path between the source node and the destination node based on a weighted network graph for the plurality of wireless nodes, and transmits the computed path to at least the destination node.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for generating one or more recommendations for a customer. During operation, the system obtains transaction and image data for a plurality of existing customers. The system then trains one or more parameters of conditioning variables associated with one or more clusters based on image data as part of a predictive model. Next, the system determines a list of recommendable items for each cluster, based on the transaction data. The system obtains transaction and image data for a customer. The system then determines that the customer is a member of a cluster associated with the predictive model, based on the obtained transaction and image data. The system generates a recommendation for one or more recommendable items for the customer based on the determined cluster membership.

Abstract: A computer-implemented system and method for spontaneously identifying and directing motorists to available parking spaces is provided. Parking spaces are tracked to determine a status of each space. A destination of a user is received. At least one parking space is identified as available and near the destination of the user. An estimated arrival time of the user to the available parking space is determined. An arrival threshold is applied to the estimated arrival time of the user and a reservation offer for the available space is sent to the user when the estimated arrival time satisfies the arrival threshold.

Abstract: A pre-patterned substrate has a supporting material, a plurality of segments on the supporting material, a plurality of interdigitated line structures within each segment to allow formation of features, and an isolation region between the segments.

Abstract: An ad-hoc network device facilitates creating a virtual interface for a set of mutual-listener devices that have a duplex communication with each other. During operation, the network device can receive a packet, and identifies a virtual interface to which the packet is directed. The network device can determine whether the local network device is a member of the virtual interface, and if so, processes the packet as an intended recipient of the packet.